STANFORD, Calif. – Spending the weekend out west, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi showed a lot of strength on the first leg of the trip at No. 3 Standford, topping North Florida 3-2 before taking a game from the nationally-ranked host in a 4-1 defeat Friday.
The Islanders (11-4) battled against North Florida (9-5) and came out on top with the 3-2 edge to improve to 2-0 all-time over the Ospreys. It was the first meeting between the two since the 2018 season when A&M-Corpus Christi also took that one 3-2.
Against the No. 3 team in the nation, the Islanders took a game off with juniors
Elizabeth Cortez and
Kela Moreno coming away with a three-set thriller over Standford at court four. It is the third time this year that the Islanders won a dual against a top-20 team.
Graduate
Chloe Tome/freshman
Cassie Dodd got the day started with a straight-set victory over UNF at line two before the Ospreys answered back with a 2-1 lead in the match after taking courts four and one. It was junior
Jade Bennett/senior
Tori Johnson that evened it up after just edging their court five opponent 16-14 in the third set.
While not as much of a grind, it was
Hannah Doyle/
Stephanie Young that clinched the match on the final court after taking care of a 21-16, 21-11 decision at flight three.
A&M-Corpus Christi is still off to its best start in program history with 11 wins already through 15 matches.
The Islanders will head down the road to San Jose to finish out the trip. They will face Utah at 9 a.m. before opening the Southland Conference slate with the matchup with San Jose State at 3 p.m. It will initiate the seven-match stretch of league play as A&M-Corpus Christi will head to the SLC Midyear Tournament next weekend to take on the rest of the conference members.
The Islanders were picked to win the league once again after winning the inaugural regular season championship in 2023 and going back-to-back as SLC Tournament Champions. Under head coach
Gayle Stammer, the Islanders have never lost a regular season dual against a Southland opponent, hoisting a perfect 26-0 record. They haven't lost any match to an SLC team since 2021.
Match One – A&M-Corpus Christi 3, North Florida 2
1. Espy, Madison/Murray, Presley (UNF) def. Bobay, Kristin/Morrow, Madison (AMCC) 21-19, 21-14
2. Tome, Chloe/Dodd, Cassie (AMCC) def. Rezentes, Michaela/Pierce, Taylor (UNF) 21-15, 21-13
3. Doyle, Hannah/Young, Stephanie (TA&MCC) def. Feliciano Sanchez, Mariana/Murphy, Mackenzie (UNF) 21-16, 21-11
4. Wooldridge, Hayden/Humphries, Cameron (UNF) def. Moreno, Kela/Jordan, Raven (AMCC) 18-21, 21-19, 15-9
5. Johnson, Tori/Bennett, Jade (AMCC) def. Camp, Madeline/Camp, Katie (UNF) 21-15, 11-21, 16-14
Match Two - #3 Standford 4, A&M-Corpus Christi 1
1. Hodel, Xolani/Rockwell, Brooke (Stan) def. Bobay, Kristin/Morrow, Madison (AMCC) 21-10, 21-14
2. Wilson, Taylor/Sorra, Ruby (Stan) def. Tome, Chloe/Dodd, Cassie (AMCC) 21-15, 21-14
3. Belardi, Kelly/Hoffman, Chloe (Stan) def. Doyle, Hannah/Young, Stephanie (AMCC) 21-12, 21-16
4. Cortez, Elizabeth/Moreno, Kela (AMCC) def. Harvey, Maya/Vincent, Ashley (Stan) 17-21, 21-15, 15-12
5. Reilly, Kate/Stowell, Clara (Stan) def. Johnson, Tori/Bennett, Jade (AMCC) 21-14 21-18
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